Wrench



Dec. 9, 1930. Q Q A. G. WERNER WRE H Filed Nov. 4, 1929 im k PatentedDec. 9, 1930 f UNITED STATES mms'r A. e. WERNER, or nnoo'xmm, new roanWRENCH Application filed November 4, 1929. Serial No. 404,662.-

T his invention relates to wrenches which may be used for square, round,hexagonal or even irregular ob ects, and particularly to that class ofwrenches in which a shiftable '6' jaw may be directly moved along thewrench shank to or from the fixed jaw thereof to desired position wherethe shiftable jaw will be immediately and automatically retainedinposition.

The main object of my invention is to provide a wrench with a movable awwhich may be directly moved to a proper position on the shank of saidwrench with respect to the fixed jaw thereof without the necessity ofslowly screwing up or down the movable jaw.

Another object is to provide a wrench of the character indicated whichis very simple in construction and readily assembled. A further objectis to have a wrench which preferably consists of only two parts andtherefore can not easily get out of order.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear more fullyhereinafter as this specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing forming part hereof Fig. 1 is a View ofawrench made according to the principal features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a similar view in which it is indicated how the shiftable jawis released so as to be slidably adjustable toward or away from therigid jaw of the wrench.

Fig. 3 is another view of the wrench when in use to grip a work piece,the shiftable jaw being shown in section to clearly reveal theconstruction and relative positions of parts.

Fig. 4 is a top view'of the wrench of Fig. 3.

Throughoutthe views the same reference characters indicate the sameparts.

In the conventional types of wrenches, it is often slow work to screwthe movable jaws thereof to a desired position, and this may be stillfurther troublesome if any damage has been done the screw or nut bywhich the adjustment is to be performed, or to the teeth engagedthereby. The adjustment screw or nut is a relatively small part andrather easily damaged at times.

However, in the practice of my invention in which adjustment screws ornuts are dispensed with,.a handle 1 is provided with a shank 11 whichterminates in a rigid jaw 3, and is provided intermediate the ends witha row of one vway teeth 2. A movable jaw 5 is arranged to co-operatewith jaw 3 by being formed upon a jaw frame 7 and slidably mounted uponthe shank 11 by means of a pair'of yokes 8 and 9; The yoke 8 iscontinued upward from jaw 5 about the wrench shank 11,'while yoke 9 isattached tothe rear end of jaw frame7 and also envelops the shank ll.These yokes may be individually riveted'or welded to the jaw or jawframe, respectively, or the same may be drop forged or cast unitarytherewith.

The jaws 3 and 5 are furnished with gripping teeth4 and 6, respectivelyso that the jaws may eflectively grip a round or other work-piece suchas shown at 14:. Yokes 8 and 9 do not fit tightly-over the shank 11, but

are somewhat elongated upwardly in order to allow the jaw 5 to hangdownby gravity as shown in the first two views, the yoke 8 beingrelativelythe longer. Within yoke 9, a spring 12 is secured in order tonormally raise the yoke 9 and rear end of aw frame 7 for the purpose ofholding a group of teeth 15 upon the jaw frame 7 in initial engagementwith the teeth 2 of the shank 11. \Vhen it is desired to shift jaw 5'forward toward jaw 3, it is but necessary to push the same withjudicious pressure upon yoke 9, as the teeth 15 will more or lessreadily disengage from and slide past teeth 2 in one direction, due totheir form. But when it is desired to shift the jaw 5 away from jaw 3, afinger 13 may be definitely pressed down on yoke 9 in order to depressspring 12', when teeth 15 will be entirely disengaged from the shankteeth 2 and the jaw slid along the shank 11 to c any desired position.In any case, the release of yoke 9 and. spring 12 will immediately raisethe yoke and jaw frame so that teeth' 15 will again initially engageshank teeth 2.

The yoke S is lengthened upwards to form an appreciable space 16 abovethe shank 11, while the yoke 9 is sufliciently extended in similarmanner to provide a space 17 abovesaid shank so that when the latteryoke is depressed, the teeth 2 and 15 will clear, as already described.Of course, the size of space 16 determines how far down jaw 5 willnormally hang when not in use. WVhen it is desired to use the wrench,say upon a round bar such as 14, the jaws may be opened a distance inthe manner mentioned and the wrench placed in position in Well knownfashion. If the jaw 5 is too far removed from the bar, it may be pushedup against the bar toward the rigid .jaw .as .also'has been described,and if the handle 1 is drawn down to partly rotate the wrench as a wholeclockwise about rod 1%, the jaw 5 will be raised so jaw frame 7 liesagainst shank 11 as in Fig. 3 when the jaws will both grip the bar 14and permit turning and manipulating it by means of the wrench. When thewrench is to be released from the bar, it need merely be drawn up incounter clockwise direction, and it can be immediately lifted offbecause j aw 5 will drop away from shank 11 out of register with rigidjaw 3.

Having now fully described by invention, I claim:

In a wrench having .a. wrench shank terminatin at one end in a handleand at the other end in a rigid jaw, the combination with a plurality ofteeth upon said shank intermediate the ends thereof and ashiftable jawhaying a aw frame, a yoke upon said shiftable jaw enveloping said shankloosely so that said jaw may normally hang down out of contact with saidshank, asecond yoke spaced from said first yoke upon said jaw frame andalso loosely engaging said shank, one or more teeth secured upon saidframe for engaging said shank teeth and an eccentric spring associatedwith said second yoke and arranged to project rearwardly from saidsecond yoke toward the handle of the wrench so asto provide solely aneccentric lift and. forward urge to said second yoke and thereby to saidshiftable jaw.

Signed at New York.

ERNST A. G. lVERNER.

